Hearing the Call

My mom had a large cowbell that she used to ring from the front door step to call the horde that was my family in to dinner every night. We didn’t like to stop playing to come home, but since I have always loved to eat, the sound represented something to me that both comforted and communicated. I still smile at the sound of a cowbell.

Bells ring to communicate lots of things. Besides a dinner bell, there is the door bell to tell you someone has arrived, the tower bell to ring the tones of the hours, the monastery bell that signals vespers, or the church bells that tone for Mass. Today, cellphone tones are effective in alerting us to calls, texts, or emails, but most become an annoyance rather than a welcome reminder. Certainly our world is full of tones to signal us to something whether we really want to know or not.

There are times in life that we definitely wish we could ‘hear the call’. For the Christian, as we mature, we wish we knew what we are supposed to do, where we are supposed to go, when we are supposed to move, but no bell rings. Some people languish for years uncertain of what they are ‘called’ to do in life. How do we hear the call when it comes?

This year, St. Peter’s ministry – The Rock – will focus on the subject of “Callings”. Pizza, praise and worship precede a guest speaker who will share their faith journey in light of different callings. Robert Tunmire will give an encore presentation of his powerful personal testimony with Called to Conversion at our first meeting of The Rock on Wednesday, September 19 at 7pm. (Pizza is served at 6:30)

October’s guests will be Jonathan and Deborah Ford who will share their journeys as former Baptist minister and children of protestant ministers into the Catholic Church with Called to Catholicism. November will spotlight our very own Fr. Daniel Liu with the story of his call to the priesthood with Called to Holiness. In December, Deacon Buddy Shields will share how he heard the Call to Service and entered the deaconate.

The Rock will continue in the spring semester with guest speakers on answering the Call to Married Life and living the life of faith when called to work in the business world, the medical field, and the media.

This year’s Rock program should be one of the best yet. Our speakers are excellent, the pizza will be hot and we have a singing, guitar-playing priest leading praise and worship. Be listening for the bell and get to the front pew when it ‘calls’.